The Pike Thief lures  were sold in the 1930s in limited numbers. The lure includes a spring-loaded hook armature that makes the bait "interchangeable" in that it can be hooked up in several configurations. The papers are wonderful on this oddball misc. bait. Steel Stamp also made a Bass Thief and a Musky Thief baits.

This Flexo-Mino lure consists of a metal head with glass eyes and a flexible rubber tail. The box indicates the lure was patented in 1921 in Illinois, and that several other "flexo" lures were available. The rubber on these lures tends to crack and break with age.

This is another product from the Joliet, ill., company mentioned above. The funky, painted metal lure no doubt wiggled its way through the water. The papers are dated 1924; the box has a patent date of 1926. This lure is hard to find but no one seems to get too excited when it turns up.    

Strikemaster was in business only from 1921 to 1928 and was founded by a fellow named A.T. Death. The prolific company turned out a line of innovative, effective lures that are favorites with today's collectors. The Surface Spraying Glider in the photo closely resembles the Creek Chub Jigger.

The Success Spinner appeared shortly after 1900 and was offered by various makers through the early teens. The lures were made of hollow metal, and usually painted.  They were sold by New York distributors including Abbey & Imbrie, William Mills and other wholesalers.

Shur Strike lures were made by Creek Chub Bait Company as a "cheap line" of baits most often carried by major hardware chains and sporting goods wholesalers. The Pikie lure in the photo is in the blue Shur Strike box, the rarest of perhaps a dozen different boxes that can be found.

This wonderful example is in rare goldfish scale with black eye shadow. the Pikie is also the earliest model with the lip in the center of the nose instead of screwed to the bottom of the lure. The early yellow box has the NRA stamp, dating it to around 1930. The endflap is marked P-10.  

Here are some other, more common Shur Strike boxes, which typically contain well-made, glass-eyed baits that resemble Pikies, Plunkers, Bass-Orenos and other popular bait styles of the 1920s and 1930s. Of these three boxes, the yellow one in the middle is the hardest to come by.

This fascinating revolving bait was made in the 1940s by Calumet Tackle Co. and later Spiral Tackle Co., both of Detroit. The Spiral-Lure appears to be wood, but it may also be pyralin or bakelite. Spiral-Lures are also spelled Spiralure and came in many colorful paint finishes.

This finely machined hollow metal plug was patented in 1931 by Julius Swanberg and sold in at least three sizes. The rights to this plug were later bought by South Bend Bait Co., which changed the name to the Peach-Oreno and painted them in beautiful colors. Swanberg's short-lived lures were offered only in nickel finish with red painted lips. 

The Bass Charmer baits are wonderful early lures from Minnesota that date to around 1917. The corrugated diving lip on this model is wonderful. The plain, white box is the only example I'm aware of. These lures have been gone since 1920, so I doubt many more will turn up.

The Tempter Fish Bait, with its eccentric, duck-billed nose, external ceramic eyes and unusual tiny cup hardware, is a wonderfully unique classic lure. Made around 1918-1921 by the J.W. Reynolds Decoy Co. of Chicago, this Tempter features a hand-mottled paint finish unique to these lures. The box is relatively unspectacular, but quite rare. 

 The Tempter Frog or Tempter Bass Bait was made in the early 1930s in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is a hard rubber composition material. The hand-painted Tempter Frog finish is among the finest of lure paint jobs. This Tempter frog is in mint condition. Often, the legs are missing.

 The Blake Minnow Chaser is thought to be a predecessor of the Thoren Minnow Chaser. Made in the 30s by George H. Blake of Casper, Wyoming, the lure is an exact copy of the later Thoren. The Blake Minnow Chaser billed itself as "The World's Newest bait." 

The Thoren Minnow Chaser is an elaborate bait made by A.H. Thoren around 1940. An earlier design was made by George Blake of Casper, Wyoming - the "Blake Minnow Chaser." It was to mimic a fish chasing a fish, and features some of the most elaborate mechanical hardware ever made. It must have made quite a sight moving through the water! The lures are wooden and very well made. The metal parts are machined steel, and the hardware resembles that of the Johnson Striker lures. This mint in box example was acquired from a visitor to this website .